Williams seek upgrade boost

Williams will hope to benefit from an upgrade planned for the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend to turn around its fortunes in the 2011 F1 season.

The team has yet to secure a finish this season after double DNFs in both Australia and Malaysia and is the only team aside from the three who joined the grid last year yet to score a point.

Eager to break into the top ten this weekend, Williams will fit a new exhaust to the car of Rubens Barrichello for Friday practice and the Brazilian said he was hopeful of a step forward during the event.

“I like Shanghai a lot,” he said. “I like the layout of the circuit and I have good memories here, having won the inaugural race in 2004. We have an upgrade to the car this weekend, which I hope will improve our speed and overall performance.

“It hasn't been a good start to the season for us as we are yet to finish a race where we belong, but I'm hoping the upgrade will help us to move forward.”

Team-mate Pastor Maldonado will aim to make it to the finish of an F1 race for the first time and said he was confident there would be improvements from the team after its early season struggles.

“China is a completely new track for me so I need to learn the layout as well as work very hard with the team to solve the problems we had in Malaysia,” he said. “I know there is a very short time between races, but I think we have the potential to improve and to become more competitive.

“It's going to be a bit cooler than in Malaysia but it is a very technical circuit so difficult to get a good overall set-up. One key feature is the first corner as it's one of the longest corners of the whole season. I have had a day in our simulator in Grove to begin learning the circuit and now I'm really looking forward to getting there.”

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'Williams aim to benefit from upgrade'. Am I being too picky when I say that is stating the obvious. What are the other possible aims of an upgrade - to go the same, not benefit from it, or go slower maybe!!!